Bizarre New World Advance Review

Chris Buchner: chrisb@215ink.com

You will believe a man can fly. At least, you will in Bizarre New World from Ape Entertainment, a mini-series created by fledgling comic book writer Skipper Martin. It's the story about an ordinary everyday shmoe who suddenly discovers he has the ability to fly. So, what would you do if you discovered you could suddenly fly?

Paul Krutcher has a dull job in an LA TV studio and leads a typically humdrum life. He's divorced with a kid, and it's the same routine day after day. Then, one fateful night while working Paul finds himself floating above the floor. Paul handles the discovery like any calm, rational person would. He freaks out.

Returning home, Paul comes to terms with his unexplained new ability and begins to practice, getting lost in the moment of the fantastic before life pulls him back to reality. On the trek to visit his son in Arizona, Paul ponders what would happen if word of his abilities got out, and what he should do with them. He also experiments to see if he perhaps has other abilities to accompany the flying.

He finally gets some direction on how to handle it with some hypothetical questions to his son, who, of course, is able to supply the imagination needed to answer such impossible notions. Paul decides to use those answers to try out his abilities for real, learning the negative aspects of being so high in Earth's environment and the dangers of the ever-changing weather patterns.

The mini-series focuses on Paul's journey to understand his bizarre new world in the most realistic ways possible. Admittedly heavily influenced by the author's own life and the people in it, the interaction between Paul, his environment and other characters comes off incredibly believable. Even his various thoughts on what to do with his abilities were what a normal person might think about, even throwing in putting on spandex and fighting crime for good measure. The humor is abundant, ranging from subtle jokes to straight-out slapstick. The story also has excellent pacing; keeping what could otherwise have been a rather mundane plot interesting and fresh. There are no villains, no heroes, no typical comic book action, and you don't really miss it.

Christopher Provencher's pencils are somewhat sketchy at first, but they improve tremendously as the series progresses to become a very distinctive style. They're nicely complimented by veteran Wes Dzioba's colors, both of which enhance the overall light tone conveyed in the story. There were also beautiful uses of photographic elements in some of the environments that really made the pages pop.

Fun and light, believable, and a totally different and original idea, Bizarre New World offers something you don't really see in many comics. Sure, every major company has a character that flies, and every costumed hero has personal problems and lives that ground them in reality. But, this book manages to take the everyman factor to the next level and make it seem like anyone can gain the power of flight.

The series begins to ship in May with a double-sized first issue and variant cover by Tone Rodriguez, who also writes and draws a back-up story in the second issue. If you like books that offer something a bit different than the usual fare, this is your book. Give it a chance to win you over and make you believe that a man can fly.

Check back soon for a full interview with writer Skipper Martin on creating this unique series!
For more information please visit Ape Entertainment.

4 out of 5 Inks
   

04.16.07